NHL pumps up GameCenter Live, reinvents mobile app for 2014-15
NEW YORK – Following hockey through the NHL’s GameCenter Live and its mobile app could often result in a fan throwing their laptop and/or phone in frustration, at a Zdeno Chara slapshot velocity. Their functionality wasn't optimal. At tlmes, it was easier to try and get information from NHL.com through your mobile browser than use the app, which isn't exactly user friendly.
The League hopes the improvements they’ve made to both popular services changes that.
Yahoo Sports was given a look at both redesigned features recently, and they look much more functional and aesthetically pleasing.
GameCenter Live, the NHL’s cross-platform streaming service, has been tweaked to better incorporate stats, news, social media and video clips. The latter category is perhaps the biggest leap forward: Now you can watch highlights in a picture-in-picture format inside a live game feed.
Another innovation: Additional camera angles. GameCenter Live will feature two cameras placed above each goal net that fans can watch throughout the game, getting the same feed they receive in the NHL War Room. You can watch the action on the ice, and then watch everyone crash the net.
There may also be feeds available from games on Rogers in Canada that include a “POV” camera placed on the players’ benches.
There's also an ongoing Twitter feed during the games:
How are the feeds chosen, you ask? The teams select them before the season, meaning it's a combination of their official feeds and those approved by the teams. Sorry, @CrosbySux69 ...
Overall, the look was cleaner, the interface was faster and the video remained HD quality … depending on your Internet speeds, of course.
Speaking of faster: The NHL app is no longer a clunky mess.
Currently sitting at 1.5 stars in the Apple app store, the app formerly known as NHL GameCenter has been blown up and put back together.
The new format gives fans a singular news experience. Let’s say you’re a Los Angeles Kings fan. The news feed on your phone would provide news from NHL.com writers, from the Kings web site and from social media feeds like Twitter and Instagram. It’s a combination of news and video, and it’s all encompassing.
The stats pages have been overhauled too, to align them with the NHL.com stats pages. The game night pages have also been redesigned to including more video on demand and analysis.
The features that previous used to be behind a pay wall – live home and away audio from games and video highlights – are now available to anyone that uses that app. Live streaming games are available to GameCenter Live subscribers.
Best of all: The buttons on the bottom for easy navigation. What a concept.
Why the changes? Well, beyond the fact that the app could be a little hard to navigate, the NHL researched its user analytics and found that there was a hole in their game: Midnight to six p.m., where fans were consuming an impressive amount of content, even through the NHL app was stuck on last night’s box scores. Now, the news feed on the app will be more dynamic.
Overall, nice improvements for GameCenter Live and the NHL app. Now, if we can only get them to offer second-screen experiences for blacked out games.
Sigh … a fan can dream.
